MBA ‘WinterSmash 2005’ to benefit Multnomah CourtCare
programThe Third Annual WinterSmash is slated for Saturday, Feb.
26, from 6-9 p.m. Like last year, the event will be held at
family-friendly Valley Lanes in Beaverton.

The sponsor, Multnomah Bar Association, has reserved all
the lanes for its members and their friends, colleagues and families
for an evening of casual fun and food. Bumper lanes will be set up for
children 3 and older.

The event will serve to kick off fundraising efforts for
Multnomah CourtCare. CourtCare is a collaborative project between the
Volunteers of America-Oregon (VOA), the MBA, the Oregon Judicial Department,
and Multnomah County. It aims to provide a compassionate way to protect
young children from unpleasant courtroom situations. A converted Multnomah
County Courthouse jury room serves as a fully-staffed and certified drop-in
childcare center for children and infants. CourtCare offers games, toys,
art supplies and books for up to 100 children a month in a safe and nurturing
place to play while parents or guardians tend to court business. Since
2001 when it opened its doors, over 3,300 children aged six weeks to
five years have visited the center.

Before the service went into operation, children had to
accompany their parents – who often had no other childcare options – into
court where they often became disruptive as they witnessed upsetting
and emotional scenes, according to Kay Toran, VOA-Oregon President and
CEO. Nearly 95 percent of the adults using CourtCare are women; approximately
40 percent are domestic violence survivors. CourtCare staff regularly
refer parents to other services, including childcare, domestic violence
shelters and providers of food and clothing.

The center seeks to improve the operation of the courthouse
by protecting children from potentially disagreeable court settings,
by helping ease parents’ access to the legal system and, perhaps most
importantly, by ensuring that the court setting allows for a fair legal
process without undue distractions.

Toran points to the "generosity, spirit, hard work
and long history of public service, the Portland metropolitan area legal
community" has contributed to the program’s efforts.

Tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for kids 3-12 years
old. Price includes food, drink, shoes, balls and lane time. Call (503)
222-3275 for more information.

New lawyers division says thanksThe OSB New Lawyers Division CLE Committee expresses its
gratitude to the following speakers for volunteering their
time and expertise to educate new lawyers during 2004:

The Uniform Trial Court Rules (UTCR) Committee met Oct.
8, 2004 to discuss 26 proposals to amend the UTCR and to make preliminary
recommendations to the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.
A description of the proposals and action taken by the committee can
be found at: http://www.ojd.state.or.us/
programs/utcr/utcrrules.htm.
This information will also be published in the Oregon Appellate Courts
Advance Sheets in the near future.

Proposals of special note include: a new rule on notarized
affidavits (Chapter 2); a new rule on segregating protected personal
information in existing court files (2.110); new procedures and a
form for reporting punitive damage awards to the Department of Justice
(Chapter 5 and 5.100); various substantive changes regarding mediation
(Chapter 12); and various changes to the small claims forms (Chapter
15). In addition, UTCR 2.100 was amended out-of-cycle to create a
simplified procedure and forms for segregating Social Security numbers
when filing documents with a court.

The committee encourages all interested parties to submit
comments on these proposals. Please send your comments to: UTCR Reporter,
Office of the State Court Administrator, Supreme Court Building,1163
State Street, Salem, OR 97301, or e-mail comments to utcr@ojd.state.or.us.

The committee will make final recommendations on these
proposals to the Chief Justice at the next UTCR meeting, April 1,
9 a.m., Office of the State Court Administrator in Salem. Those proposals
approved by the chief justice will become effective Aug. 1.